Multidrug-resistant bacteria prevalent in supermarket meat, study finds
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Key takeaways:
- Three-quarters of meat products had levels of E. coli within acceptable health limits.
- Poultry meat had higher levels of resistant bacteria than red meat such as beef and pork.
Researchers in Spain reported that nearly half of supermarket meat samples tested in a study contained multidrug-resistant or potentially pathogenic Escherichia coli.
The finding was presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, Denmark.
According to the CDC, more than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, with more than 35,000 dying as a result of the infections.
Resistant bacteria have previously been found in produce, with researchers saying that fruits and vegetables are likely contaminated through soil.
Azucena Mora-Gutierrez, PhD, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela-Lugo in Lugo, Spain, and colleagues previously found high levels of multidrug-resistant bacteria in chicken and turkey.
“Strategies at farm level [are needed], such as vaccines, to reduce the presence of specific multidrug-resistant and pathogenic bacteria in food-producing animals, which would reduce the meat carriage and consumer risk,” Mora-Gutierrez said in a press release.
Mora-Gutierrez and colleagues gathered 100 samples of retail meat products in 2020 from supermarkets in Oviedo, Spain. Using a combination of selective agar media and screening for specific genetic targets by PCR, the researchers molecularly and phenotypically characterized a collection of 82 E. coli samples and 12 Klebsiella pneumoniae samples.
The majority of meat products — 73% — contained levels of E. coli within food safety limits, but 49% contained multidrug-resistant or potentially pathogenic E. coli, Also, 10% meat products contained K. pneumoniae isolates.
Additionally, 40% contained multidrug-resistant E. coli, including some that produced extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), which are enzymes enabling the bacteria to resist most beta-lactam antibiotics.
When broken down by meat, 68% of turkey samples tested positive for ESBL-producing E. coli compared with 56% of chicken samples, 16% of beef samples and 12% of pork samples. Among the 10 samples testing positive for ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae, seven were turkey, two were chicken and one was pork.
A likely explanation for the difference between poultry and red meat samples testing positive has to do with differences in production and slaughter, according to the study, but the researchers suggested other efforts are needed to prevent foodborne infections from meat products.
“Farm-to-fork interventions must be a priority to protect the consumer,” Mora-Gutierrez said. “For example, implementation of surveillance lab methods to allow further study of high-risk bacteria in farm animals and, and their evolution, due to the latest [European Union] restriction programs on antibiotic use in veterinary medicine.”
References:
- CDC. Antimicrobial resistance: National infection & death estimates for antimicrobial resistance. https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/national-estimates.html. Accessed April 26, 2023.
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Mora-Gutierrez A, et al. From farm to fork: Assessment of meat as a source of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae and potentially uropathogenic E. coli for consumers. Presented at: European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases; April 15-18, 2023; Copenhagen, Denmark.
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